Club news 7 May 2018

Go n-eiri go geal le hiomanaithe agus peileadoiri an chontae ag an deireadh seachtaine. Eire Og, which has representatives on both panels, wishes every success to the countys hurlers and footballers who this weekend play the opening rounds of their All-Ireland championships.

The hurlers play Mayo on Saturday in Joule Park in the Christy Ring Cup and the footballers play Offaly (a formidable challenge) at 4pm on Sunday in the second game of a double-header in Portlaoise.

Iomaint Soisear

Wednesday evening our junior hurlers opening league match against Barndarrig at home went ahead despite its having to compete against the second leg of the European Cup semi-final. Those few who tore themselves away from their tv screens were more than compensated for their loyalty by what turned out to be an exciting, wholeheartedly contested game.

In the first half, Eire Og seemed to be well in control and led by five points at the break. Unfortunately the management was forced to make a few substitutions early in the second half and these had an unsettling effect on the team with the result that the visitors began to come more into the game and to gnaw into the locals lead. After a cant watch last few minutes for the Na Clocha Liatha supporters, the game ended in a 1-15 (E.O) to 2-12 draw, with Barndarrigs first half goal a bizarre OG.

Peil na gCailini

Our u-16 cailini are Division B county league champions and the manner in which they won their game would suggest that they would not be totally out of their depth in the higher division. Their two last games in the league were away, one in Roundwood against An Tochar and the other away in the far east of the county, in Dunlavin against St. Nicholas.

The games were played in hugely contrasting weather conditions, with the former experiencing miserable damp conditions and the latter being bathed in bright, warm sunshine.

In the An Tochar game, the Eire Og cailini took the initiative from the start but, not for the first time in the league, their shooting let them down. Matters did, however, greatly improve after the opening point by Eimear Fawcett and Eire Og led at half-time 3-8 to 1-2. Eire Og were again very much on top in the second half and ran out comprehensive winners

Eva Sterritt (2-0) and Iseult Brosnan (0-2) constituted a dynamic duo in the centre of the field, Kerryann Hamilton (3-5) led by example at centre-forward and Andrea and Megan were prominent among the backs. Other scorers were Eimear Fawcett (0-2), Faye Evans (1-1) and Kerrie Williams (1-1)

There was very little resemblance between the two halves in the St Nicholas game. For the first thirty minutes, Eire Og were completely on top and had a lead of twelve points 3-9 to 0-2 at the short whistle. In complete contrast, the second period began with a deluge of St Nicholas scores and by the twentieth minute they had reduced the Eire Og lead to five points and even looked likely to wipe the gap out completely. At that stage our cailini recovered their composure and popped up with a few badly-needed scores. They did, however, lose the second half 6-1 (19 points) to 3-3 (12 points) for a final score of 6-12 to 6-3 to Eire Og.

Dea-ghuionna

Comhghairdeachas to hurler Neil Brown, son of club mentor Gerry, who was an important member of the county u-17 team that defeated Westmeath in the Celtic Challenge Cup.

Gach dea-ghui to Mick ONeill who has a long association with the club and who has not been too well of late.